SDCC ’13: Eisner Award Winners

For those who don’t know, the Eisner Awards were started in 1988, named in honor of Will Eisner, creator of The Spirit. The Eisner’s are awards given to various members of the comic creator community in recognition of the achievements they have made.

This year’s list, the 25th anniversary of the Eisner’s, goes as follows:

Best Short Story: “Moon 1969: The True Story of the 1969 Moon Launch,” by Michael Kupperman, in Tales Designed to Thrizzle #8 (Fantagraphics)

Best Single Issue (or One-Shot): The Mire, by Becky Cloonan (self-published)

Best Reality-Based Work (tie): Annie Sullivan and the Trials of Helen Keller, by Joseph Lambert (Center for Cartoon Studies/Disney Hyperion); The Carter Family: Don’t Forget This Song, by Frank M. Young and David Lasky (Abrams ComicArts)

Best Graphic Album—New: Building Stories, by Chris Ware (Pantheon)

Best Adaptation from Another Medium: Richard Stark’s Parker: The Score, adapted by Darwyn Cooke (IDW)

Best Graphic Album—Reprint: King City, by Brandon Graham (TokyoPop/Image)

Based on what we see here, the most popular piece (and winner of multiple awards) was Saga by Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples. Followed closely by Hawkeye and Batwoman.

In this day and age, it is highly unsurprising to see a title from an indie-publisher such as Image Comics achieve such mainstream recognition amongst the comic community. What this means for the future of comics is that we may see more and more indie titles overshadow material from the big two, which could cause a revolution (of sorts) in the way the media recognizes comic book culture.

The Eisner awards are still going strong even through to their 25th anniversary, with a unique line up winning the awards this year. The spirit of Will Eisner lives on.